BLOODY MARY AND THE NINE DAY QUEEN

Union Theatre

★★★½

“a tantalising, often moving work”

In the shadow of the Tower, where Tudor ghosts still whisper, a new musical dares to tread familiar ground. Bloody Mary and the Nine Day Queen is a production of compelling contrasts—historically meticulous yet emotionally reserved, musically ambitious yet narratively cautious.

When it comes to the Tudor period—a historical gold mine that has been thoroughly excavated—any new production might answer one ultimate question: What fresh perspective does it bring? Here, the script wears its research like royal velvet. The portrayal of the “power-hungry Duke of Northumberland lurking in the background” captures the political sickness that infected England as Edward VI lay dying. History is not merely a backdrop but a character—one rendered with integrity, if not quite emotional depth.

Musically, the score is a rich tapestry. Under David Gibson’s spirited musical direction, the live band weaves soul, jazz, and rock into a soundscape that feels both timeless and urgent. Anna Unwin, who co-wrote the show and embodies Jane Grey, lends her a fragile grace. Her recurring theme, tenderly reprised at the close, serves as the show’s conscience—a soft, tragic lament for a queen who never wished to rule. Yet for all its melodic breadth, few tunes linger once the curtain falls.

Where the production truly falters, however, is in its promise of a dual portrait. This is, in truth, Jane’s story. Mary—Cezarah Bonner’s performance simmering with unspoken depth—is left waiting in the wings, her journey from disinherited princess to “Bloody Mary” sketched in shorthand. We hear of her pain, but we are never invited inside it. In a story of two women crushed by the same machine, we only fully witness one. In a dual role, Gareth Hides both writes and portrays Henry Grey, a pivotal contribution to this production

The balance between serious tragedy and comedic relief also feels unsteady. Constantine Andronikou, as Northumberland, impresses with his strong tenor voice. Though the fourth-wall breaks and tonal shifts sometimes clash with the gravity of the subject. The first half builds tension effectively around the political conspiracy, while the second struggles to sustain that momentum—a structural imbalance that leaves the narrative feeling top-heavy.

Visually, the early reveal of the execution block saps the story of suspense—a heavy-handed symbol in a plot that might have trusted its audience to trace the path to the scaffold. The costume design stands out as refined, especially considering the intimate scale of the theatre.

Bloody Mary and the Nine Day Queen is, ultimately, a show of quiet potential. It resurrects history with care but hesitates to reimagine it. It gives us Jane’s heart, but keeps Mary’s soul locked away—a tantalising, often moving work that feels one daring rewrite away from greatness.

BLOODY MARY AND THE NINE DAY QUEEN

Union Theatre

Reviewed on 25th October 2025

by Portia Yuran Li

Photography by Colin Perkins

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DEAD MOM PLAY | ★★★ | April 2025

DUDLEY ROAD | ★★ | January 2025

NOOK | ★★½ | August 2024

WET FEET | ★★★★ | June 2024

THE ESSENCE OF AUDREY | ★★★★ | February 2024

BLOODY MARY

★★★

“Though it could really sing with some further consideration, Ben Blais has certainly shown us something very real”

Theatrical musings about death and grief abound, but one thing has become incredibly clear — audiences will always buy into them. Grief, after all, is a universal experience that we long to share, while rarely feeling that we can. And so, theatre provides some small form of catharsis, allowing us to process our own emotions on the subject via proxy. Ben Blais, who serves as both writer and director here, seeks to provide that catharsis through an ambitious blend of sincerity, comedy, and straight-up chaos — but it’s clear that the work still needs a bit of polish.

When we meet Charlie (Griffyn Bellah) and his dying mother (Hannah Harquart), it is via a strange, often difficult to follow call-and-response duologue that goes on just a bit too long. We are soon introduced to Death (Joseph Bellis), posing as a newly moved-in neighbour, who wishes to spend some time with Charlie’s mom… presumably to take her away and end her suffering. What follows is a series of vignettes where Charlie finds any possible way to avoid what is happening right before his eyes. He can’t bring himself to face the horrific things that are happening to his mother’s decaying body — he describes the sights and the smells in quite visceral detail — but he can’t quite let go either. He entreats Death for more time, chases Death off time and again, but also berates Death for allowing her to suffer so much. The internal conflict is gorgeously played out by Bellah and reflects the very real complexity of grief.

But there are spaces here for improvement. A short section of Shakespearean monologue feels a touch like it’s filling space, more than serving a narrative purpose. The lighting design, provided by Jess Brigham, is ethereal and matches the tonal needs of the piece, but the sound hampers the performance at times, causing some lines to be lost in the chaos. A threat of suicide toward the end of the show feels particularly unbalanced, unrooted, and perhaps unearned — though it is threatened with a finger gun, it still feels rather jarring, particularly when followed by another character telling the one with a finger gun pointed at their temple to “try harder”. For a show that deals quite sensitively with other matters of death, it doesn’t seem to have interrogated its relationship with suicide or self-harm very well.

With all that said, the storytelling structure, the book-ends that Blais provides are what really show his promise as a writer. Death has a constant refrain for Charlie throughout the piece — “show me something real”. Though it could really sing with some further consideration, Ben Blais has certainly shown us something very real.

Tag Archives: Union Theatre

BLOODY MARY AND THE NINE DAY QUEEN

★★★½

Union Theatre

BLOODY MARY AND THE NINE DAY QUEEN

Union Theatre

★★★½

“a tantalising, often moving work”